Try to live a life filled with sharing

Doris Gvillo

Published 10:54 am, Saturday, January 27, 2018

As I sit here to share some of my thoughts with you, I sometimes feel empty and think there is nothing in this old head of mine that is with sharing. I think there are so many thoughts flying about in this old head and I don’t know how to separate the foolish ideas from something worthwhile. You would think by the time you hit my age, you’d be a little wiser but at times, I think I must have pushed a delete button that has erased my ability to put my thoughts into words that might touch another person’s heart.

Here goes todays thoughts. I sometimes have a difficult time going to sleep at night and when that happens, I find myself traveling back down memory lane and remembering my time growing up. I know I have probably said before that I grew up on a farm. We had no furnace nor air conditioning.

We had no running water so what we did have was a place in our kitchen for two buckets of water…one of well water and one of cistern water…one for drinking and the other for washing ourselves of the dishes.

In the winter, we carried these buckets into our living room by the stove there. That was the only room that had a basement under it and therefore it was the only place that the water buckets would not freeze. Sounds like a problem, but then it was just the way it was and no one felt deprived. I was an only child, but I had lots of cousins and most of the family lived in the area. Life was so different but it was ‘good’.

Let me share one example. Today if I want to do the laundry, I walk down the hall to the washer, put in the clothes, turn on the machine and go back to doing whatever I need to do. Later, I can remove the laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer.

Back then my mother first built a fire under a kettle and then carried water to be heated. While waiting, she filled to tubs with rinse water and tied up the clothes’ line to hooks in trees in the yard. If it was winter or raining there were hooks atop doors in the dining room and that is where the clothes was hung to dry. Might sound strange but it accomplished what needed to be done and life was fine. We always had food to eat, we had a home filled with love and care.

As an adult, I now understand that individuals knocking on the door of a farm family and asking for a meal was because there was a depression and folks were out of work and hungry. My mother would always fix a plate of food and they would eat it sitting on a chair in the yard if weather was good or in the wash house near our kitchen in bad weather. I don’t remember them coming into our home but I know they always left feeling cared for and full.

I felt blessed that I didn’t have to walk the mile or so to school Transportation was provide. But it wasn’t a nice school bus, but rather a van with a back that opened and had benches wired to the side. We climbed into it and sat on the bench. Seatbelts weren’t thought of then.

The life I had as a child seems so strange now, but I wonder if my great grandchildren who seem to have so many more material blessings in their lives will grow up to be as appreciative as we older folks who remember what it was not to have most of the things you long for.

I am glad to see my family and know they are doing well and that the children are enjoying things that generations past couldn’t possibly imagine. Things like television, an automatic washer, and of course, a computer.

Most of my grandparents immigrated to this country and lived on farms and worked hard and while they had loving homes, they did not have the amenities of today. But you know, I saw the act sharing so that everyone had the necessities. Furnaces, air conditioners, dish washers, hot water heaters, driers…all these things were not available. Life was so very different but I don’t think we felt deprived.

My father raised acres of potatoes and they were hauled to a market in St. Louis. At first they were hauled loose in the truck but later they had to be weighed and sacked. I was the one who tied the sacks and the tough string made blisters on my fingers. I also remember the first time my father took me with him to take a load of potatoes to the St Louis market. It was before they had to weighed and sacked. As they were being unloaded a few would fall into the gutters at the side of the street and people were there with pans and a knife and picked up those damaged potatoes, cut off the bad spot and gathered food for their families. It was quite shocking to me because while we didn’t have a lot, we never lacked good food to eat.

People speak of the ‘good old days’ and I find myself wondering just what it was that made them think those days were so good. We are a much more affluent society today but have our values changed and have we become less caring for others as people were then. I don’t know why but I think we should always be aware of the needs of others and respond and offer help if we possibly can.

God calls us to love one another and loving means caring that folks are fed and have help to just keep on keeping on.

Folks probably aren’t knocking on our doors asking for a sandwich but there are folks that need help and who need to know that someone cares.

I’m not smart enough to solve the problems of those who are in need or homeless, but I do hope that those of us who are comfortable and have loved ones who surround us never forget there are the lonely, the hungry and the forgotten people. .We are called by our Go d to care and to share.

Remember the story in our Bible about feeding the hungry. When Jesus says “When you fed the hungry or helped with healing the sick you were ministering unto Him?

We are so blessed but there are so many people all over our world who are lost and alone and in need. Do we shut our eyes and shut our hearts or do we try to make a difference? The Bible says ‘we love because He first loved us.” Let’s never forget to be thankful for God’s love and to share it with those who Aare in need. There is a hymn that says “Because I have been given much, I too must give’’

I am convinced that we not only know these precepts but that we also are called by God to show others that we not only know what God would have us do but that we respond to His love by sharing with others. Remember the verse in scripture that says, “We love because He first loved us. ” If we believe that, then sharing, caring and loving others shouldn’t be a chore, but a joy. Maybe we should all try a little harder to be those who not only believe that but live our lives sharing God’s love with others.